Good regulatory practices will foster APEC’s growth—experts

Monitoring good regulatory practices and improving their implementation will help lift trade and investment barriers and spur regional growth in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), according to experts.

“Regulatory cooperation has become an important area of focus for APEC economies,” said Professor Bambang Prasetya, chairman of Indonesia’s National Standardization Agency during an APEC conference recently in Medan, Indonesia. “It is a self-fulfilling paradigm that better regulation and the improved alignment of regulatory practices will bring economies closer together and foster increased growth.”

Professor Prasetya noted that this approach can help to ensure effective regulation while minimizing the burden on manufacturers and industries across the Asia-Pacific region.

“It is important to reduce duplicative testing and certification which can add time and other costs to the export of goods,” said Tony Sinambela, director of Standardisation at Indonesia’s Ministry of Industry.

The participants also described the importance and potential benefits of implementing improved regulation practices.

“Good regulatory practice is the primary route to safer products without adding unnecessary costs or creating barriers to trade,” said Al Kaufman, senior vice president of technical affairs at the U.S.-based Toy Industry Association. “Ultimately, consumers are the ones who benefit from a wider variety of safe products at cheaper prices.”

T.A.R. Hanafiah, chair of the APEC Subcommittee on Standards and Conformance, said, “APEC economies’ work to address good regulatory practices is vital to advancing our broader agenda to lift trade and investment barriers, and move us towards a more integrated and prosperous region.”